Trolley for electric railways



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. H. WBHRLB.

TROLLEY FOR ELEGTRIG RAILWAYS.

No. 434,086. Patented Aug. 12, 1890.

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i UNITED STATES JOSEPH H. IVEHRLE, OF NEVRK, NEW' JERSEY.

TROLLEY FOR ELECTRIC RAILWY'S.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,036, dated August 12, 18,90.

Application led October 9, 1889. i Serial No. 326,486. (No model.)

.To all wiz/0m t may concern: y

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. VEHRLE, a citizen of the United States, residing' at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Carriages or Trolleys for Electric Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the arrangements and construction of parts in an improved form of carriage or contact-making device illustrated in an application of mine led contemporaneously herewith, the serial number of which is 326,485, for an electric railway, the motor in the car being supplied from a current in electrical conducting-rails, upon which the herein-described contact-making carriage or trolley is adapted to be run, and which rails are secured and arranged within a conduit.

The most important feature of the present invention is the construction and arrangement of the several parts of a contact-making carriage or trolley, the trolley-wheels of which are entirely arranged within boxes of nonmetallic insulating material, and the suitable means for connecting and securing the same to the bottom of a car or vehicle, the carriagecarrying part being arranged within a 'continuous and open slotted conduit having chambers or compartments therein, within which the trolley-wheels of the carriage are adapted to run on electrical conducting-rails within said chambers, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Atturther object ot the invention is to provide the forward and rear ends of the carriage with cleaners or wipers, which are in constant engagement with the conductingrails and keep the same clean and free from dirt or water. l

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which similar letters of reference are used to indicate corresponding parts in each ot the views, Figure l is an end elevation of the contact-making carriage, illustrating the same in position on the conducting-rails within the chambers or compartments in the conduit, and the means for securingsaidcarriage to the bottom of the car being represented in cross-section. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of one of thecontact-wheels of the carriage and part of the arm for securing the same to the car, said view illustrating the manner of leading down through ducts, cables, or wires for supplying the electric current to the motor of the car, and illustrating tact with the ytrolley-wheels of the carriage. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through line m in Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the 1arrow fr in said figure, the position of the supporting-springs illustrated in Fig. l being shown in dotted lines thereon. On Sheet 2, Fig. 4 represents a vertical section through line y, Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through line e in Fig. 4.

In said views, A represents the bottom ofa car, to which is secured in any convenient tom with an opening b, through which moves up and down with the motion of the cara plate or arm c. Said plate c is provided at the top within the box B with two oppositelyprojecting arms c and c2 at right angles to said plate, and these arms have secured thereon on their under sides two pairs of lugs c3 and c4, to which are attached springs CZ, which are similarly held in place at the opposite ends by means of the lugs or supports b and b2, secured to the base-plate of the box B in any well-known manner. f The arm or plate c, which projects downwardly through the opening b in the box B, extends down through a continuous slot e in the conduit E, and is provided atl its lowest end with oppositely-projecting arms c5 and c, to which are secured the boxes fand f,which are made of fibrous material or other insulating or non-conducting material. These boxes, which are constructed in halves, bolted or secured together by means of screws, are provided in their interior with the recessed portions ]"2 and f3, within which are secured, by means of a pin f 4, the contact-wheels g and g', thereby forming a complete insulation around said trolley-wheels. y

The parts of the carriage are constructed the method of establishing the electrical con. ,65

manner a box B, which is provided in its bot- IOO and arranged in such a manner that when the latter is introduced within the conduit the contact-wheels g and g are caused to be forced up against the lower side of the rails c and e2, due to the tendency of the springs d to draw the carriage upwardly. The rails e and c2, which are supported at intervals by means of supports e3 within the chambers or compartments e4 and c5, formed by the downwardly-projecting flanges or walls e7 and e8 within the conduit on both sides of the continuous slot therein, are covered with insulating material e, the under side e6 of said rails not being covered, so as to make electrical contact with the trolley-wheels g and g when the latter are forced up against the said rails, as is clearly illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 4. Said wheels g and g are also constructed in halves, which are secured together by means of bolts or screws g3, so as to allow the said halves to spread apart in case of any unevenness in the grade of the tracks in the road-bed. Itis my intention to construct said halves of any thin conducting material to facilitate the spreading apart of the said halves when necessary and to in'sure at all times perfect electrical contact of the wheels with the conducting-rails.

As will be noticed from the drawings, the platecanditsoppositely-projectingarmsoand c2 and c5 and c6 are provided with two separate ducts therein, through which are passed the cables or conducting-wires h and h', which connect with electrical contacts or springs t' andi', arranged within openings f5 and f6, and which spring-contacts complete the electrical connections with the wheels g and g by engaging with the sides thereof, as clearly illustrated in said Figs. 2 and 3.

The opposite ends of the wires hand 7L pass through the ducts in the arms c and c2 and down through the center of any two of the four supporting-springs d and out of the box B, connecting with an electric motor in any convenient manner.

It will be understood that the springs d in the box B are of sufficient strength to cause the trolley-wheels g and g to be constantly held in electrical contact against the lower sides of the electric conducting-rails in the conduit, no matter how great the load in the car.

As shown more especially in Figs. 3 and 4, the wheel-boxes f and f have secured thereto at their opposite ends and directly beneath the conducting-rails the recessed portions f7, within which are secured spring actuated cleaners or wipers f8, preferably made from soft rubber, which engage with the exposed and lower side of the conducting-rails beforel and behind the carriage, and which during their passage under said rails perfectly free the latter from any dirt or water that may accidentally adhere to said rails, thereby perfectly drying the same and causin ga dry electrical contact between the contact-wheels and the said rails.

It is evident that the carriage shown and claimed herein is of a special construction,l which adapts the same more especially for use in conduits of the construction as claimed and illustrated in my application liled September 28, 1889, Serial No. 325,437. The beneficial results obtained in the present construction are that at all times all the parts of the carriage are perfectly insulated, as well as the rails within the conduit, the only parts of which are exposed being the under side, and by providing the conduit with the deep slot formed by the downwardly-proj ecting walls the chambers or compartments are obtained within the conduit, which are free from the admission of water or rain and other foreign substances, which objection has been overcome herein, as will be evident.

Having thus described myinvention, whatI claim isl. The combination, with a spring-supported plate having ducts for electrical wires or cables therein, of trolley-wheels running in chambered boxes of nonmetallic insulating material, as and forthe purposes set forth. 2. The combination, with a spring supported plate provided at its lower end with Voppositely-projecting arms and having ducts for electrical wires or cables therein, of trolley-wheels arranged in chambered boxes of non-metallic insulating material, as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, vwith a spring supported plate having ducts for electrical wires or cables therein, of trolley-wheels running in chambered boxes of nonmetallic insulating material, and means for securing said carriage or trolley-carrying plate to a railwaycar, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with a springsupported plate having ducts for electrical wires or cables therein, of non-metallic insulating boxes consisting' of halves secured together and'said boxes being attached to oppositelyprojecting arms on the lower end of said plate and contact-making trolley-wheels in said boxes, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The divided trolley-wheels and the separable halves of a non-metallic insulating-box, combined with means for securing the same to the bottom of a car, and electric wires and spring-contacts connecting with said trolleywheels, for the purposes set forth.

6. In a contact-making carriage adapted to be run on electric conducting-rails in a conduit, the divided non-metallic insulatingwheels therein, and wires or cables arranged in ducts in said plate c and connecting with said trolley-wheels, for the purposes set forth.

8. In the herein-described contact-making carriage, the combination, with the trolley- Wheels thereof arranged in chambered boxes, of non-metallic conducting material, portions secured to said boxes provided with cleaners or Wipers of soft rubber secured therein, which are adapted to engage with the electrical conducting-rails in the conduit on whichA the trolley-Wheels run, as and for the purposes set forth.

9. A trolley or carriage adapted to be run on electrical conducting-rails provided with a spring-supporting plate having ducts for electrical Wires therein and provided with trol ley-Wheel-supporting boxes having at their opposite ends means, such as soft rubber Wipers, for cleaning and drying the conducting-rails, for the purposes set forth.

A 10. A trolley or carriage consisting of a plate c, supported by springs and adapted 'to be attached to the bottom of a car, said plate having ducts therein, Wires or cables in said ducts, oppositely-projecting arms at the lower end of said plate c, recessed boxes of nonmetallic insulating material secured to said arms, said boxes being arranged in halves secured together, as set forth, contact or trolley Wheels, also in halves, pivoted in'said boxes, openings f5 and f6 in two of said halves constituting the boxes, and electrical contacts in said halves which engage with the surfaces of the contact or trolley Wheels, and Wires connected therewith, for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that'I claim the invention set forth above 1 have hereunto set myhand this 3d day of October, 1889.

JosEPH H. WEHR'LE.

Witnesses:

FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL, HERBERT BoGGs. 

